LV Moose wrote in post #15782188I don't believe either is true. Creativity is in your mind, skill is in your brain (and hands, to some extent).

More gear just gives you more options.

Very true Moose - better gear (not gears) can make certain operations and functions EASIER for some. I bigger brighter camera LCD can make life easier, expecially for my old eyes. It can improve efficency or encourage experimentation.

That elusive creature known as creativity though - you can't buy that in a box.

shinyknights wrote in post #15780335I'm just saying that any one who knows how to work a camera (use manual settings) should be able to take as great photos as a great photographer, right? Taking post-processing out of the mix because that is what REALLY makes photography look so great and stunning.

Taking note that, at least in my time zone, it was still April Fool's Day when this was posted.

It could be argued that to a degree gear can make up for lack of skill, but skill and creativity are very different things, and nothing can make up for a lack of creativity. People keep making statements like "give a pro a 10mm lens and a noob a 400mm and have them shoot birds, the noob will take better pictures", that's completely pointless and proves nothing. A better way to look at it, would be, lets say, give Alec Soth an xti with a kit lens or something like an s90, and give someone with mediocre creative ability a 1dx with a 24-70L, send them off for a month to photograph whatever they want, its pretty obvious who comes back with better images.

- Aircraft:Will the guy that has only flown a Cessna necessarily make better landings when you stick him in an F-15?

- Power tools:So you've handled a jig saw once, time to move up to our 14" radial arm saw.

- Heavy machinery:Your riding mower skills qualify you to use a tower crane, on a busy jobsite. The steel workers won't mind, they know that this pricey expensive "gears" makes you better at operating the crane in a safe and timely manner.

- Archery:If the Nerf bow was easy, then a professional 120 pound draw longbow should be a breeze!

- Automobiles:going from the "consumer/novice" Vehicles we drive to professional vehicles like 18 wheelers, or Formula 1 cars. Will these make you a better driver?

All these notions are pretty ludicrous to any sane person, no?

That modern camera equipment makes our lives easier is not in doubt.

If however, you feel it makes you a better photographer, and imbues you with magical skills that you did not need to actually learn, than you don't know what either a photographer, or skill is.

I think we need to separate the idea of equipment = skill, from the parallel truth, that one should use the right tool for the job. Skill teaches us what the right tool is.

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #15783561...I think we need to separate the idea of equipment = skill, from the parallel truth, that one should use the right tool for the job. Skill teaches us what the right tool is.

But having access to the right tool makes the job that much easier, or in the case of photography, the photo matching the vision of the photographer.

Skill and equipment are interlinked and can't ever be fully separated, hence the futility of the arguments on this thread. We can only talk of degrees and specific situations.

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #15783561Again, I don't see why this perception is held for photography, when the very idea would be completely nonsensical if the exact same POV is applied to any other discipline.

Try and see if this theory stands up when the gear we are talking about is for instance;

- Aircraft:Will the guy that has only flown a Cessna necessarily make better landings when you stick him in an F-15?

- Power tools:So you've handled a jig saw once, time to move up to our 14" radial arm saw.

- Heavy machinery:Your riding mower skills qualify you to use a tower crane, on a busy jobsite. The steel workers won't mind, they know that this pricey expensive "gears" makes you better at operating the crane in a safe and timely manner.

- Archery:If the Nerf bow was easy, then a professional 120 pound draw longbow should be a breeze!

- Automobiles:going from the "consumer/novice" Vehicles we drive to professional vehicles like 18 wheelers, or Formula 1 cars. Will these make you a better driver?

All these notions are pretty ludicrous to any sane person, no?

That modern camera equipment makes our lives easier is not in doubt.

If however, you feel it makes you a better photographer, and imbues you with magical skills that you did not need to actually learn, than you don't know what either a photographer, or skill is.

I think we need to separate the idea of equipment = skill, from the parallel truth, that one should use the right tool for the job. Skill teaches us what the right tool is.

You know what I don't like about those associations? It's too broad and the expectation of GREATNESS is held too high.

Take the automobile one....

I take my Accord v6 to a track and do some laps, pushing it as hard as I can. Record fastest lap time. Now, I get into a Ferrari 458 Italia. After a few minutes of getting acquainted with the car, would it be reasonable to expect I could get the Ferrari to a faster lap time than the Accord, relatively quickly out of the gate? I would. Are any of my times good compared to what a professional could do in the same cars, no. Does that make me competitive as a professional driver, no... but, did the better equipment change the results for the better?

I don't see photography as much different. I mean, what lens setup would I expect better results from across the board... my 55-250 set to 200mm with a 2x converter (Ha, yeah, I actually typed that), or a 400 2.8?

Noitca wrote in post #15783674I take my Accord v6 to a track and do some laps, pushing it as hard as I can. Record fastest lap time. Now, I get into a Ferrari 458 Italia. ..... did the better equipment change the results for the better?

I wouldn't argue that, just as I wouldn't argue that someone who had never shot with a camera before would get 14 FPS out of a 1Dx where as a seasoned pro would still be laboring along at 3 FPS with a 10D.

I also would not argue that such a thing might help the hapless innocent get a well timed shot.

My POV remains that none of this means that the equipment has made the 1Dx shooter a better photographer, nor that it is likely that after shooting an event next to the 10D shooter, the 1Dx shooter will end up with a superior group of images.

The Ferrari did not make you a better driver. It's just faster, and that has no reflection on your ability to use it. Could it help your end result? Of course, it's better. It could also put you into the wall, or even just lose you the race off the line as your tires lit up where as the skilled driver got the hole shot and maintained the lead.

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